Do I ship it?

Games › 2D Platformer › 2D Platformer + Martial Arts

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Martial-Arts 2D Platformer?

2D Platformer + Martial Arts

Of 47 developers who shipped a Martial-Arts 2D Platformer in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 83 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $420, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50. 83 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper, while revenue is down 70% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 70% on the market, 83 announced, ×4.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
2D Platformer + Martial Arts
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 47
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $26k → $20k → $25k → $959 → $2.0k → $99k → $419 (still earning) → $119 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for 2D Platformer + Martial Arts: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 47
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $419 (exactly $419)
Top 25% $21k (exactly $20,551)
Top 5% $1.0M (exactly $1,033,283)
Developers, 2 yr 47
Released games 122
Announced 83
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue down 70% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 5%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

2D Platformer
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Martial Arts
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
2D Platformer; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Platformer, Adventure
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Side Scroller
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 12,502 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $420, 1 in 4 over $20k, 1 in 20 over $1.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 8 in 10 of the 30 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 83 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

2D Platformer with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + JRPGFair150 devs · median $4.2k · 157 announced
  2. + VampiresFair47 devs · median $1.9k · 50 announced
  3. + MechsFair33 devs · median $1.8k · 44 announced
  4. + PinballFair13 devs · median $1.6k · 9 announced
  5. + WesternFair10 devs · median $1.3k · 13 announced
  6. + CRPGFair62 devs · median $1.2k · 76 announced
  7. + Psychological HorrorFair178 devs · median $1.0k · 185 announced
  8. + Arena ShooterFair45 devs · median $809 · 43 announced
  9. + MiningFair38 devs · median $748 · 45 announced
  10. + RoguelikeFair264 devs · median $599 · 320 announced
  11. + Party-Based RPGFair55 devs · median $599 · 42 announced
  12. + Tactical RPGFair58 devs · median $599 · 49 announced

All 226 pairs on the 2D Platformer page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

觅长生 2023 · $12M SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance 2025 · $3.2M NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound 2025 · $1.9M Psychic Kung Fu Master 2026 · $1.0M 英雄群侠传II 2019 · $756k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
觅长生 older $14.99 27,072 93% 812k $12M (exactly $12,174,278) Chalcedony Network
SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance $29.99 3,564 83% 107k $3.2M (exactly $3,206,531) SEGA, Lizardcube
NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound $24.99 2,500 92% 75k $1.9M (exactly $1,874,250) The Game Kitchen
Psychic Kung Fu Master $19.99 1,723 60% 52k $1.0M (exactly $1,033,283) 金十四工作室
英雄群侠传II older $11.99 2,103 88% 63k $756k (exactly $756,449) 熊窝dodox
Xuan-Yuan Sword: The Scar of Sky older $9.99 2,437 93% 73k $730k (exactly $730,369) DOMO Studio, SOFTSTAR ENTERTAINMENT
BLADECHIMERA $14.99 1,358 88% 41k $611k (exactly $610,693) Team Ladybug, WSS playground
The Devil Within: Satgat $24.99 795 78% 24k $596k (exactly $596,012) Newcore Games
Sword and Fairy older $4.99 3,947 97% 118k $591k (exactly $590,866) SOFTSTAR ENTERTAINMENT
Xuan-Yuan Sword: Mists Beyond the Mountains older $13.99 1,161 84% 35k $487k (exactly $487,272) DOMO Studio, SOFTSTAR ENTERTAINMENT
欺神弄鬼 · EA $9.99 802 91% 24k $240k (exactly $240,359) 猫台班子工作室 Cat Caboodle
Poetry of Blood: Eclipse · EA $14.99 406 91% 12k $183k (exactly $182,578) ZeroGameStudio
Double Dragon Revive $34.99 157 63% 4.7k $165k (exactly $164,803) YUKE’S
小小侠客模拟器 $2.99 1,103 86% 33k $99k (exactly $98,939) 小小游戏
IGS Classic Arcade Collection $29.99 94 60% 2.8k $85k (exactly $84,572) IGS(台灣鈊象電子)

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.